SGI Tezro
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The SGI Tezro is the second-most recently released (as of December 2005) series of high-end computer workstation available from SGI, and is the immediate successor to the SGI Octane line. The systems are available in both rack-mount and tower versions, and the series was released in June 2003 with a list price of $20,500. The Tezro was released alongside the SGI Onyx4 (and because of component sharing, the Onyx4 and rack-mountable Tezro share many components, including skins).
Both tower and rack-mountable systems marked the return of the original 'cube' logo to SGI machines, which was welcomed by the loyal user base.
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[edit] Architecture
Similar to other SGI systems, the Tezro uses a non-blocking crossbar interconnect to connect all subsystems together. Tezro is based on SGI's Origin 3000 architecture.
ARCS is provided as the boot firmware, similar to all contemporary SGI computer systems.
[edit] Processors
Tezro systems used one to four 64-bit MIPS R16000 CPUs. Available configurations include: 2 or 4 processors 1.0 GHz with 16 MB L2 cache; or 1, 2, or 4 processors at 800 MHz or 700 MHz with 4 MB L2 cache.
[edit] Memory
The Tezro ships with 512MB of Special DDR SDRAM. It can be expanded using proprietary DIMMs, the tower version can hold up to 8GB of main memory, and rack-mountable version up to 16GB of main memory.
[edit] Styling
While visual appeal is probably one of the least considerations when purchasing a high end workstation, SGI had historically been known for making brightly colored machines with a dramatic appearance. The Tezro continued that trend with an appearance that was highly unusual, while in contrast the entry level Fuel was surprisingly conventional.
[edit] Graphics
Tezro can use the V10 and V12 Odyssey graphics options, though most customers would have chosen the V12 version. Dual-head and dual-channel options were also available, allowing a fully-equipped Tezro to drive 4 high-res monitors at once.
[edit] Audio
Tower systems ship with analogue audio output as standard, while PCI cards provide audio capabilities (including 2-channel 24-bit AES and 8-channel ADAT connectors) on rack-mountable versions.
[edit] Expansion
The number of available 64-bit PCI slots included in a Tezro system depend upon the number of CPUs installed in the system:
- 7 133/100MHz slots in two- or four-CPU tower systems
- 3 133/100MHz slots in single-CPU tower systems
- 6 100MHz slots and one 66MHz slot in 4U rackmountable systems
- 2 100MHz slots and one 66MHz slot in 2U rackmountable systems.
All PCI slots in each Tezro model are 3.3V card slots.
A single U160 SCSI connector is available for attaching external peripherals, as is an optional FireWire card.
[edit] Operating system
The only operating system produced for the Tezro is SGI's IRIX.
